Dec 21st – Garfield & Tucking In

Hello everyone!

Today’s comic is Garfield.

Comic Breakdown

Jon is putting everyone to bed (tucking in) for the night.

“Yawn.  Good night Garfield.  Good night Pooky.  Night Odie.” – Jon

Jon notices the lights are on.

“What are you doing?” – Jon asking Garfield

“Tucking in the leftovers” – Garfield’s thoughts

What are leftovers?

Leftovers mean food that is left over from a meal or snack.

What does “tuck” mean?

The word “tuck” means to fold or put something in place.

The two meanings of “tuck” in this comic

1) Tucking In – To put someone to bed.  Parents “tuck” their young children in at night.

2) Tucking In – This is the term used when one is about to start eating.  The expression comes from the fact that one folds their napkin (tucks it in) into their shirt collar right before they eat.

Why is this comic funny?

Both Jon and Garfield are “tucking in” for the night.  One is tucking others into bed and the other is tucking in to eat.

Today’s images are from here, here, here, here, and here.

Dec 19th – Dilbert & Passwords

Hello everyone!

Today’s comic is Dilbert featuring the issue of online security and passwords.

Comic Breakdown

“Starting today, all passwords must contain letters, numbers, doodles, sign language, and squirrel noises.” – Pointy Haired Boss to his employees

What is a doodle?

A doodle is another word for a hand drawn picture.

It would be very hard and near impossible to include a drawing in a password that has to be typed in.

What is sign language?

Sign language is communication through hand gestures and signals.  It is how the deaf and hearing impaired communicate.

Sign language does not have sound or keyboard symbols so you cannot put that in a password that has to be typed in.

What are squirrels?

A squirrel is a small rodent that lives in rural and urban areas such as parks and people’s gardens. 

It would be very hard to create a password that had to be typed in using squirrel noises (sounds).  Instead one would have to decide what kind of sound a squirrel usually makes and think of a password that included letters of the alphabet that made the same sound as squirrel noises.  This would appear as random letters that appear in a password to everyone else. 

Why is this funny?

This comic is making fun of how computer users are now required to create increasingly difficult passwords for greater security.  To make it funnier, this boss wants everyone to create ridiculously hard passwords that are not really possible on a traditional keyboard. 

Many email providers, online accounts, and computer accounts now require users to create passwords that contain letters (in lower case and capitals), numbers, and symbols to increase security. 

Though funny, this comic also shows how much protection people and companies must have now for online security.

Today's images are from here, here, here, here, here, and here. 

Dec 16th – Family Circus & Threeplicates

Hello everyone!

Today’s comic is a Family Circus featuring Thelma and a quick thinking Dolly.

Comic Breakdown

“Look, Mommy!  Threeplicates!” – Dolly pointing at the three babies

What is going on? 

Three babies born together from one pregnancy are known as triplets.   Triplets may or may not be identical (look the same). 

Dolly is a little girl and may not know what three babies born together (triplets) are called so she invented a new word.

She took the number “three” (3) and she took the word “replicate” (means to copy) and combined them into one word.

Three + Replicate = Threeplicate

Why is this smart?

Dolly is saying that those three identical babies (triplets) are three copies!

This is an example of children using their thinking skills to create new words that make sense when they do not know the real word to describe something.

Today’s images are from here, here, here, and here.

Dec 14th – The Peanuts & Christmas Decorations

Hello Everyone!

Today’s comic is the Peanuts featuring Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

Comic Breakdown

Charlie Brown sets up and decorates Snoopy’s Christmas tree.  He has to plug in the lights somewhere for electricity.

“Which do you want me to unplug…the tv or your clock-radio?” – Charlie Brown asks Snoopy

Why is this funny?

Many people put up a lot of decorations for Christmas.  The most common decorations include a tree and lights. 

 

A lot of people will also put up lights around their house and outside of their house. 

A common problem though is that many people do not have enough electrical plugs.

So many people have to unplug another electrical device or appliance during the holiday season in order to light up their decorations.

Today’s images are from here, here, here, here, and here.

Dec 12th – Dilbert & the Thought Behind Gifts

Hello everyone!

Today’s comic is Dilbert featuring Dilbert and his dog, Dogbert.  The two have a love/hate relationship.

December is the (Christmas) holiday season in many parts of the world.  There are lots of parties, special events, and gift giving that takes place during this month. 

Getting someone a gift that they will really enjoy can be hard.  There is a popular saying in English when it comes to gift giving.

“It is not the gift, but the thought that counts.”

– Henry Van Dyke

 Comic Breakdown

“Are you ready to do mental gifting?” – Dilbert

“You go first.” – Dogbert

“I imaging giving you a sweater that doesn’t fit” – Dilbert

“Imagine giving you a tool that you already have.” – Dogbert

“Merry Christmas, Dogbert.” – Dilbert

“Stupid sweater.” – Dogbert.

Why is this funny?

Instead of giving each other real gifts, Dilbert and Dogbert decide to imagine what they would get each other as gifts.  But they did not put much thought into the idea of the gift itself.  They got each other things they already have or that will be useless and unenjoyable. 

If it is the thought that counts, Dilbert and Dogbert have put no thought into their gifts.  Or to show how much they dislike one another; they put lots of thought into thinking of gifts that they knew the other would hate.

Today’s images are from here, here, here, and here.

Dec 10th – Dilbert & the Two Meanings of Beat

Hello everyone!

Today’s comic is a Dilbert featuring Pointy-Haired Boss and Webmistress Ming.  To learn more about the comic strip Dilbert, click here.

Comic Breakdown

“Ming, I think the internet might catch on.  I rushed over here so I could be the first to say it’s a new paradigm.  Did anyone beat me?  – Pointy-Haired Boss

“I wish someone would.” – Webmistress Ming

Time Context:  This comic of Dilbert is from the 1990s when the internet would have been a new thing to most people so Pointy-Haired Boss is amazed by it. 

What does paradigm mean?

The word “paradigm” means “an example” and it means one in a great way. 

To say something is a paradigm shift, such as the internet when it was new, is saying that something very important or great has occurred and that there will be a big change. 

Why is this comic funny?

Pointy-Haired Boss wants to know if anyone has “beaten” him to the idea of the internet.   Webmistress Ming wishes someone would “beat” him.  They are using the word “beat” in two different ways. 

Pointy-Haired Boss’s Beat – This definition of “beat” means if someone has been faster or better than him.  Another meaning for “to beat” is “to win”. 

So he wonders if someone else has already come up with the smart idea of using the internet.

Webmistress Ming’s Beat – This definition of “beat” means she literally wants someone to hit him. 

She is annoyed by her boss.  The job title of “webmistress” already means that she works with the internet so the idea of the internet being new and amazing is not a new one to her.  

Today’s images are from here, here, here, here, and here.

Introducing Dilbert

Hello everyone!

A new comic that I am going to feature on this blog is Dilbert. 

Who is Dilbert?

Dilbert is a popular American comic drawn and written by cartoonist Scott Adams.  The comic makes fun of office humour, work problems, and office management.  The main character of the comic is Dilbert.  He is an engineer.  Other commonly featured characters in the comic are Dogbert (Dilbert’s pet dog), Pointy-Haired Boss (Dilbert’s incompetent boss), and Dilbert’s colleagues Wally and Alice. 

Dilbert has been published since 1989 and now appears in over 2000 newspapers around the world a day in dozens of languages. 

Today’s images are from here and here.